Adjectives take specific positions in sentence constructions and at times, can move from one position to another with certain restrictions. When they move to a new position, their meanings change. This post presents adjectives’ positions, their position specific meanings and how same adjectives can give double meanings when their position changes.
1. Positions of Adjectives with Reference to their Head Nouns
Some adjectives are characterized with limited mobility, i.e., they are able to be used in front of their nouns as attributive adjectives. Some other adjectives can stay after their nouns as post-positive adjectives or next to a linking verb as predicative adjectives.
1.1 Position of Quality Indicating Adjectives
The quality indicating adjectives (attributive adjectives) stay before nouns. However, these adjectives can commonly stay next to a linking verb (i.e., be, become, appear, seem, etc.) if they are followed by pronoun one(s). For example:
a. The dedicated workers were appreciated.
b. *The workers were dedicated.
c. The workers were dedicated one.
1.2 Position of Quantity Indicating Adjectives
The quantity indicating adjectives are commonly present in the form of number words (e.g., five, twenty, etc.). These adjectives can also indicate quantity in vague manner by appearing as many, few, some, several, numerous, etc. However, these adjectives cannot follow their noun in the company of one(s), as they indicate quantity instead of attribution. Further, lone quantity adjectives cannot stay after linking verb be. For example:
a. *The mistakes were twelve.
b. The mistakes numbered twelve.
No doubt, the sentence in example (b) is correct. However, the better way to employ quantity numeral adjectives is to use there + be construction and the numbered word before its noun. For example:
a. There were twelve mistakes.
If a number word is used to quantify a pronoun, the sentence will go incorrect as *They are six. This construction becomes correct, if there-construction is used with of + pronoun after the number word. For example:
a. There are six of them.
This sentence construction can further be improved by putting in number after six.
b. They are six in number.
1.3 Position of Time-indicating Adjectives
The adjectives whose function is to indicate time are attributive in nature. These adjectives include future, eventual, past, former, ultimate, previous, latter. For example:
a. The future legislature will review the existing family laws.
Being attributive, these adjectives stay before their nouns as shown in the example (a). These adjectives cannot stay as predicative adjectives, e.g. *If a decision is ultimate… (though it can be said …If a decision is an ultimate one).
There are a number of time-indicating adjectives that are not purely attributive. When these adjectives stay in the non-attributive position, their meaning become changed. For example:
a. Our late (deceased) grandfather was a farmer.
b. The flight is late (delayed).
1.4 Position of Importance-indicating Adjectives
These adjectives indicate that their head noun (someone or something) is the most outstanding or the only member of a non-competitive group. The examples of these adjectives are principal, leading, major, lone, top, primary, utmost, chief, main, sole, and only. Some adjectives like first, important, noticeable and salient though indicate the importance of their nouns, yet do not indicate exceptional position of their head nouns.
1.4.1 Position of Importance – indicating Adjectives vs High Quality-indicating Adjectives
High quality indicating adjectives (e.g., unique, outstanding, special, etc.) are different from importance indicating adjectives as they can go in any position. Unique and only/sole are particularly different from each other in terms of their non-equivalence. For example:
a. Rashid has a unique personality. (high quality)
b. She is the only/sole survivor of the accident. (importance adjective)
When describing a countable noun combined with one(s), many importance-indicating adjectives, similar to time-indicating adjectives, can stay after linking verb (be, seem, appear, etc.). Besides, the importance-indicating adjectives like chief and principal can stay in this position before certain preposition phrases such as among them, or in importance. Further, even new sentences can be started with such combinations. For example:
a. Many great personalities have served this university but the chief one is Mr Sharif.
b. Of all the hurdles in the path of his success, the principal one was a lack of proper guidance.
c. Akbar suffered from many diseases, chief among them was lungs’ cancer.
d. Of all the factors contributing to his success in research, his in-depth knowledge of research processes was principal in importance.
e. As the vice principle of the college, Shaheen is the chief in line to succeed the principal after his retirement.
f. Our area experienced several hardships this year, with principal among them being the shortage of water.
1.5 Position of Status Indicating Adjectives
There are a number of adjectives that associate their noun ideas with either low or high status. These adjectives include very, adverse, upper, utter, mere, alternative and redbrick. For example, very in the very shop acts as an emphasizer for its noun idea, i.e., the shop is specific or exact one. In a noun phrase, i.e. an utter necessity, utter acts as an intensifier and shows absoluteness or totality of necessity.
2. Position Specific Meanings of Adjectives
Various adjectives carry meaning on the basis of their position.
2.1 Meanings of Time Indicating Adjectives
The adjectives like old, new, present, current, the late, early/late indicate the state of their head nouns that is related to time. If we use the adjective old before a noun, it indicates that something is previous and the adjective new means latest or recent. Both these adjectives stay before the noun. On the other hand, when old means not young and new means currently made, these can stay either before or after their noun. For example:
a. He behaved as old and wise when he spoke to the crowed.
b. For the audience, the political leader created something new from the old narratives.
When the time indicating adjective like early and late give the meanings of before or after a fixed time, they can stay before or after their noun, e.g., late arrivals/arrivals were late. When they stay before their nouns, they can give meaning, i.e., near the start or near the end. Further, when the is used before the adjective late, i.e. the late, it means deceased, e.g., the late grandfather.
2.2 Meanings of Sequence Indicating Adjectives
The sequence indicating adjective, also known as number adjectives, i.e., first, second, third…last, sometimes take the before them and sometimes do not take the. When they take the before them, they indicate a place, time or list position (e.g., the fifth avenue, the second option). With this function, these adjectives can stay either before or after their noun. When they are without the, they indicate a rank in a competition and commonly stay after their noun, e.g. ‘He was fifth in the queue’.
2.3 Meanings of Adjectives Indicating High Degree
The adjectives that indicate high degree are commonly known as absolute or intensive adjectives. Their function is to express a strong, intense, or maximal quality. For example:
a. His hard work led him to an unprecedented success.
b. We have to stay stable to deal with this alarming situation.
The other adjectives included in this category are excessive, appreciable, intense, exceptional, utmost, astonishing, complete, real, etc.
An important characteristic of these adjectives is that they differ from each other on the basis of the words they are associated with. For example, these adjectives give one meaning when they are used attributively and another meaning when used predicatively. For example:
a. The captain has complete control on his team.
b. Our mission is finally complete.
2.4. Meanings of Specialization Indicating Adjectives
The specialization indicating adjectives are mostly not bi-polar, i.e., they are either attributive or predicative. Some of these adjectives can stay attributively (before noun) as well as predicatively. Some other adjectives can stay only before nouns. The adjectives that can stay attributively (i.e., before noun) can be termed as specialization indicating adjectives. These adjectives include legal, nuclear, social, criminal, etc. For example:
a. He is getting education in an industrial school.
b. He could not adapt himself to an industrial environment.
In example (a), the adjective industrial specializes in industry and in (b), industrial in industrial environment means ‘with industrial characteristics. Thus, this adjective can stay predicatively, i.e., after a linking verb.
2.5 Meanings of Focus Indicating Adjectives
Certain adjectives (e.g., precise, particular, exact, certain, etc.) are used to indicate focus. They do this by restricting the meaning of their following noun to a special subgroup of possibilities. For example, in particular, adjective certain refers to a subgroup of adjectives.
If these adjectives are predicative, they give alternative meaning. For example, certain means convinced; precise means accurate and individual mean different.
3. Position Specific Double Meanings of Adjectives
Some adjectives attain meanings according to which of the positions these take.
3.1 Apparent
a. There is no apparent (seeming) public support for the sudden change in law.
b. His low performance was apparent (observable) to the audience in the theater.
3.2 Near
a. The scared cat climbed the near tree.
b. The patient’s death looks near.
In example (a), near describes which tree and in (b) it describes the state of the patient’s death.
3.3 Poor
a. His poor performance on the stage disappointed the audience.
b. The food in this restaurant is poor.
In example (a), poor means low in quality and in (b), it means the food lacks essential contents.
3.4 Sorry
a. The accident left the car in a sorry (wretched) condition.
b. I am sorry (remorseful) that I could not attend the event.
3.5 Ready
a. He always has a ready (available) solution to the problem he comes across.
b. The plane is ready (prepared) for the flight.
In sum, this post has three main sections. The first section deal with the positions that various adjective classes occupy in sentences. In this section, the positions of adjectives that indicate ‘quality’, ‘quantity’, ‘importance’, ‘time’, and ‘status’ have been detailed. In the next section, the position specific meanings of adjectives that indicate ‘time’, ‘sequence’, ‘high degree’, ‘specialization’ and ‘focus’ have been discussed. Finally, it has been shown how some adjectives give double meanings when their position in sentences becomes changed. The information provided in this post can show how writers produce their professional texts.
